The Gloria: Exuberant Praise of the Triune God

The famous 19th century Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon once said, "Praise is the rent which God requires for the use of His mercies." Since God is all merciful and always gives us more than we deserve, praise should always be on our lips.

The entire book of Psalms is one, continuous praise of God for his goodness. It sets the example of any approach to God. In fact, praising God reaches the height of prayer because our prayer is all about God: his love, his kindness, his mercy, his saving us in Christ. When we praise God, we ask for nothing for ourselves. We seek only to give glory to God. Such an approach to God reaches a high point whenever we recite or sing the Gloria at Mass.

The Gloria is a joyous hymn of praise composed in three parts. In the first part, we repeat the praise that the angels sang when they announced the birth of Jesus to the shepherds. This section of the Gloria is very brief. It is just one sentence: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to people of good will" (Lk 2:14). The following two sections build upon these words of the angels and explain the reasons for our giving glory to God.

The second part of the Gloria is addressed directly to God the Father. We praise him for his goodness. We will look at a number of changes in our new text of the Gloria. If not pointed out, they may go unnoticed. Yet, they are of significance.

Former Text:

Lord God, heavenly King, almighty God and Father,

we worship you, we give you thanks, we praise you for your glory

New Text:

We praise you, We bless you, We adore you, We glorify you, We give you thanks for your great glory,

Lord God, heavenly King, O God, almighty Father.

First, we can notice that the order of the prayer has been changed. In the new arrangement, God is mentioned at the end of the stanza. Thus, there is a greater emphasis on God whose name comes as the climax of the stanza. Furthermore, by placing "almighty Father" in apposition to "Lord God, heavenly King, almighty God," it becomes clear that this section of the Gloria is directed to the Father, the first person of the Blessed Trinity.

Second, the new translation does not omit any of the phrases contained in the Latin. In fact, by piling up five parallel phrases one on top of the other, as opposed to the three in the former translation, the new text builds up to a crescendo in praising God. One word of praise after another in rapid succession not only creates the feeling of exuberant joy, but also conveys the feeling of our inability to say enough in praise of God.

The next part of the Gloria is directed to the Son.

Former text read:

Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father, Lord God, Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world; have mercy on us; you are seated at the right hand of the Father: receive our prayer.

For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord, you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father. Amen

New text reads:

Lord Jesus Christ, Only Begotten Son, Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us; you take away the sins of the world, receive our prayer; you are seated at the right hand of the Father, have mercy on us.

For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord, you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father. Amen.

At the very beginning of this section, the new translation places the title, "Only Begotten Son." The addition of "Only Begotten Son" recovers a key phrase from the Latin text: "Fili Unigenite." This is a venerable title of Jesus Christ that places us within the mystery of the Trinity. It affirms that, within the eternal life of God, the Son comes forth from the Father, yet is no less an eternal Person of the Divine Trinity. Jesus who shares fully with us a human nature is a divine person, the second person of the Blessed Trinity. Thus, the Gloria is placing on our lips in praise of Jesus the same faith which we profess in the Creed when we say that Jesus Christ is "begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father."

This section addressed to Jesus is longer in the new text. While the former translation has just one line that begins with "you take away....," the new text, following the Latin, has two lines that begin this way. The additional line is structurally important for the prayer and should be noticed. With the new phrase, we now have a classic threefold pattern of supplication: "You take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us; You take away the sins of the world, receive our prayer; You are seated at the right hand of the Father, have mercy on us." The Gloria now has the same threefold structure of supplication as the Kyrie (the Lord, have mercy) and the Agnus Dei (the Lamb of God).

Furthermore, the new translation says, "You take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us." It uses the plural "sins" and not the singular sin. This minor change from singular to plural places a greater emphasis on the saving work of Jesus as our Redeemer. He is our Savior in a most personal way. He takes away all our sins not just sin in general.

The ending of the Gloria remains unchanged. We conclude our joyful praise by acclaiming the very mystery of God who exists from all eternity as the communio of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Into this great mystery, the entire Liturgy lifts us up, giving us a share in the life of the Triune God.